Riverside County

Service Members, Veterans & Their Families

Calendar girl who grew up in Chino is helping raise money for military veterans

Chino Champion - 7/10/2018

Don Lugo High graduate and military veteran Faith Jones is one of 19 military veterans featured in a 2019 calendar to raise money to support veterans hospitals, ill and injured veterans, homeless veterans, deployed troops, and military spouses.

Ms. Jones and the other models, in 1940s-era hairdos and fashions, were photographed aboard the historic Queen Mary in Long Beach for Pin-Ups For Vets' 13th annual calendar. The ship transported more than 810,000 military personnel across the Atlantic during World War II. It is now permanently docked in Long Beach as a floating hotel and tourist attraction.

The volunteer models are also visiting Veterans Administration hospitals across the country to boost morale and to deliver the calendars as gifts of appreciation to hospitalized veterans. They have visited more than 12,000 veterans to date.

Ms. Jones was a personnel clerk while stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, both in California. She was also an administrative noncommissioned officer for the tactical tracking Combat Hunter program and School of Infantry, Camp Pendleton; and worked as an administrative chief for Wounded Warrior at Camp Pendleton, a program to help wounded soldiers.

"My most memorable and rewarding time during my service was working with combat-injured Marines at Wounded Warrior Battalion by helping these Marines in their transition back into the fleet Marine forces or retirement," the military veteran said. "Being a part of Pin-Ups For Vets is special to me because it's a continued service. It is important to me to help others and continue to give back to the military that made me who I am."

Pin-Ups For Vets is a non-profit group that was founded in 2006 by Gina Elise to honor the World War II service of her grandfather. It has donated more than $58,000 to help veterans hospitals purchase new therapy equipment and to provide financial assistance for veterans healthcare program expansion across the United States.

The non-profit group's 2019 calendar can be purchased at PinUpsForVets.com or by check to: Pin-Ups For Vets, P.O. Box 33, Claremont, CA. 91711.